Today’s ONS figures underline what many businesses are already feeling – UK productivity remains under real pressure. Output per hour fell 0.5% year-on-year in Q4 2025, while hours worked continued to rise. And with productivity only 2.4% above the 2019 average, we’re still struggling to shift the dial.

To see meaningful progress, we need to tackle the everyday frictions that quietly eats into the working day. Our recent research shows employees are losing around 15 hours a week to routine admin – the equivalent of almost two full working days. More than a quarter (26%) of office workers say they spend most of their time on admin rather than the job they were hired to do.

Leaders recognise the issue as 28% admit their teams are spending most of their working day on low-value admin. But recognition isn’t the same as action. Too many organisations are still moving too slowly to remove that burden.

Productivity won’t improve by asking people to work harder. It improves when people have the time and tools to focus on the work that actually creates value. If businesses tackle admin overload at scale and with automation technologies, the benefits won’t just be felt internally, they’ll show up in the wider economy too.